


everybody else looks like they've figured it out

by orphan_account



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Canon, ed and ling and win are ALL BI, edlingwin, its what they DESERVE, they are all in love w each other bc i said so, this starts off sad but i promise it has a happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:15:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26379412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: the sun set behind them. it seemed almost poetic. a sunset, the ending of a day, and the ending of their old relationship. but this would make ed happy, and maybe she’d learn to love ling too. this was the sunset, but tomorrow’s sunrise would bring light and warmth. comfort and promises of hope. right?something fractured inside winry, and she shivered.OR, ed can't choose, but winry can.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Ling Yao, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell/Ling Yao, Winry Rockbell/Ling Yao
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	everybody else looks like they've figured it out

**Author's Note:**

> edlingwin deserves more content and i'm determined to write it!! also this chapter is sad i know but hang in there, the ending is adorable
> 
> title from "nonbeliever" by lucy dacus.

winry didn’t like change. she never had, never would. she was a creature of habit, cradled in a cocoon of safety and sameness. it made her feel in control, a feeling she would never quite get enough of. but just as much as she hated change, she hated disappointing people. she was an unstoppable force and an immovable object, a walking corpse of contradictions. she was a people-pleaser and a chronic worrier, and she walked the line of selflessness to the very end of the road. so when someone asked for something, she gave it. no matter what.

she’d been dating ed for a while now. she hadn’t found it important to count the days. but it was long enough that they’d passed the saccharine “honeymoon period” and had settled into a sweet rhythm. he’d stay with her in their small house in resembool whenever he would, between picking up odd jobs and traveling around the country. even though he’d lost his alchemy, he still had a desperate need to save everyone, to use whatever he had left to fix every problem in this shattered shell of a state. sometimes, he’d visit dr. marcoh in the city and help out with patients, or stop by central to bother roy and riza, and say hello to gracia and elicia. he made a trip out to briggs once, to see how the forces were holding up. he’d returned from that trip so impossibly quiet, like the snow that dusted the fresh graves for all of armstrong’s men. 

winry always hated when he came back like that. he was so violently independant, interested only in burying his pain deeper into the pit of his stomach. it was rotten down there, something dark and festering that she couldn’t bear to look at. he shoved every feeling into every hollow in his ribcage, and the wounds never got the chance to heal. and of course, ed would never mention it. he’d just take long walks, and make no effort to fill the longer stretches of silence. she always felt like she was playing catch-up, like she’d never be able to help him. he was always taking on other’s pain as his own, and you can’t fix what isn’t yours. winry loved him, because he was ed. he was everything she wanted and she gave him almost everything she could (eighty-five percent, to be exact). but she just wanted him to be happy.

so ed went out, disappearing for days, weeks at a time. he’d come back and she’d try to patch him up, fix every scrap of metal that was broken, and everything else that he’d let her. she built him his own study, pinned more pictures of him up on the walls, and things started to feel like home. it was ramshackle and it listed to the side just a little, but it was theirs and it was perfect. she didn’t want anything different, and she didn’t want anything to change. 

ed, however, had other plans. 

“you’re back soon,” winry said, not exactly a question, but something was hiding behind it. “why?”

ed laughed, a bright, golden tune. “aren’t you happy to see me?” god, he looked good. better than before he left. the strength to his voice, that was new, and the sharp gleam in his eyes. he looked less ghostly, more solid, more real. his hair was soft and glowing, tied back in a long, loose braid with his bangs falling choppily over his eyes. aside from desperately needing a haircut, he looked just like the boy winry had fallen in love with. she had missed him so much.

“of course i am,” winry sighed, “but you’re never back early. what town did you get kicked out of now?”

“oh, ye of little faith, be patient. i brought a gift!”

winry put her head in her hands. “oh my god, what did you steal?”

ed had gone back to the car, and he was struggling to pull something out of the trunk. “not what, but who!” he finally managed to tug the thing, or person, out of the back. winry noticed with horror that the muffled groans and grunts were not from ed, but from the person bound and gagged and thrown in the truck.

“edward fucking elric, what did you DO?” she yelled, half-frustrated and half-panicked. she didn’t realize her boyfriend was an honest-to-god kidnapper, but here they were. she couldn’t even process the scene going on in front of her, it was too crazy.

ed was pulling off the gag and the ropes, grinning like a maniac. “it’s fine- winry stop yelling at me, it’s fine! it’s just ling, see?”

and indeed it was. the xingese emperor was lying on the ground, grumbling, dusting himself off and struggling out of the bindings. “no need to worry, winry, you don’t have to yell at him. i’d love to have the pleasure of killing him myself.”

“hey!” ed cried. “i did you a favor! you hate emperor duties, and you were dying in those stuffy robes. i left a note and told them i’d return you soon, okay? calm down.” 

ling just shook his head. “i can’t believe you, edward.” he stood, stretching and yawning widely. “well, if i’m here, could i trouble you for something to eat?”

winry nodded blankly. “of… of course, emperor yao. anything for you.”

“don’t call me emperor, it makes me feel old. ling is just fine,” the emperor, or rather, the boy, said kindly. he looked at the two and the look on his face said he realized they probably wanted to talk, and he headed for the door.

winry took this as an opportunity to rip ed a new one. “what were you thinking? you can’t just kidnap an emperor of a foreign country and expect everything to turn out fine! you’re supposed to be the smart one, the expert on foreign policy and relations! not the idiot who thinks it’s fun to fuck around with the stability of another government!”

“he was suffocating, winry!” ed pushed back. “he couldn’t take it. he hates being emperor, and he needed a break, but he’s just like you and would never say it, so i had to do something!” 

winry huffed, crossing her arms over her chest like a petulant child. “fine. but he can’t stay here forever. i don’t want to be the center of an international incident. again.”

ed grinned and wrapped his arms around her. “thank you winry! i promise you won’t regret it.”

winry, however, was not so sure about this, but she wasn’t gonna push it. so she just sighed, smiled, and grabbed ed’s hand, pulling him towards the house. “c’mon, let’s feed your poor mistreated friend.”

when they got back inside, they saw ling curled up on the couch like a cat. his dark hair was mussed up and strands fell loose from his ponytail. he was snoring softly, and there was a peaceful smile on his face. winry exchanged a wry look with ed, who grabbed a blanket and draped it gently over ling. then, the two went back outside, as not to disturb ling.

winry could feel something building, pressure filling the air like smoke. she didn’t know what it was, but she had to bring it up before she choked on it. so she sat on the stoop and turned to ed. “there’s something you want to talk about, isn’t it?”

ed turned a soft shade of pink. “what-uh, what makes you think that?

winry laughed. “i know you better than you know yourself. spit it out, nerd.”

“well, i know we’ve been dating for a while, and i really really like you, but i’ve been doing some thinking, and well-”

something broke in winry’s chest. it might have been a rib. she wasn’t quite sure. “are you… are you breaking up with me? because if you are, well, then just say it!”

“no!” ed yelled, jumping to his feet. “no, no that's not what i mean at all! winry, i would never.” panic etched fault lines through his words, fractals shimmering and shattering in the cool night. 

“then what, ed?” winry shot back, her nerves shot and her eyes glistening..

ed looked as if the words caught in his throat, but he finally choked out, “i want us to date ling.”

“what?”

this was not what she expected to hear. at all. the confusion must have shown on her face, and ed’s face twisted, eyes wide and bright and hurt. he thought she was angry, didn’t he? 

but ed spoke before she had the chance to respond. “i want to date ling. i love you so much, but i love him too, and i can’t choose between you two, and i think you’ll like him just as much as i do, and i think it would work.” the words rushed out over his teeth, tangled and torn. his eyes were wide, his mouth set and his shoulders a hard line. she could see them shaking.

winry smiled softly, wiping her eyes and feeling the tension melt away, sunshine over snow. “okay.”

“okay? that’s it?” ed asked nervously, fidgeting with the hem of his coat. 

“yeah,” she said. “if it makes you happy, then yes.. i’d do anything for you, ed.”

a small tear slid down his cheek and he rubbed at it furiously. “okay, but promise you’ll tell me if you change your mind. please, winry.”

she nodded. “of course. now, let’s go see if ling’s still asleep, okay? i’m pretty sure all the yelling woke him up.”

ed snorted, slipping his hand through winry’s. “you’re the best girlfriend anyone could ask for, you know that?”

“i do, but you should remind me more often,” winry teased.

ed laughed, something wavering but happy in his voice. he held tight to her palm and walked back up to the house.

the sun set behind them. it seemed almost poetic. a sunset, the ending of a day, and the ending of their old relationship. but this would make ed happy, and maybe she’d learn to love ling too. this was the sunset, but tomorrow’s sunrise would bring light and warmth. comfort and promises of hope. right? 

something fractured inside winry, and she shivered.


End file.
